Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) A proposal is in the works to request compensation from the Taiwan government for more than 500,000 veterans who served an extra year in the military during the 1960s to 1980s.
According to the draft bill, the government issued an illegal order to force 567,407 soldiers, during the period 1968 to 1986, to serve for three instead of the two years mandated in the Act of Military Service System.
Dozens of veterans, aged 43 to 64, attended a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan Tuesday, saying that the government had treated them unfairly because they had to spend an extra 12 months of their youth in the military.
"I missed a lot of time with my wife and sons, " said Liu Tien-kuei, who was conscripted in 1978 in the military police.
Seeking to maintain troop levels after the retirement of many of its soldiers who came to Taiwan from China, the Kuomintang government in 1966 issued a temporary order for a one-year extension of service in the armored units, engineering corps, missile troops, artillery, airborne troops, signal troops, special forces and arsenal. The order was not revoked until 1986.
According to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Trong Chai who initiated the bill, the regulations at that time stipulated that the compulsory period of service was two years, therefore, the executive order was a clear violation of the law.
Trong said that the Ministry of National Defense should compensate the affected veterans for the loss of time and money.
The legislature's Rules Committee blocked the draft bill from the legislative agenda Monday, but Chai vowed to forge bipartisan support for the proposal and put the bill on the agenda next week.
Taiwan is aiming to have a fully volunteer military service system by 2014 to replace the current system, which is part volunteer and part conscription. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc